The terribly sad state of Balochistan
Those who have been kidnapped, tortured and killed are not just armed militants hiding in the mountains. A vast proportion of them are from the urban middle class, including students, engineers, lawyers, journalists and activists who have been engaging in civilian protest against what they perceive to be wrong policies of the state and the establishment. As the Guardian reported two months ago, a Baloch farmer went to court to file a case for his missing son but his lawyer was murdered. When he subsequently went to the media, the president of the local press club was murdered. Now, no one wishes to speak up for him.
The tactic of killing the Balochs will not suppress the call for justice
According to Pakistani officials, in circumstances where law and order can't be maintained by a regular police force, its most trustworthy law enforcement agency, the Frontier Corp (FC), which is essentially a paramilitary force, has been given control of Balochistan to ensure law, order and to protect the lives of the people. But unfortunately, according to the relatives of victims, eye witnesses and human rights organizations, this "self proud" force itself is found to be guilty.
One swallow does not a summer make
The summer of democracy and rights can only come when accountability becomes the norm. The FC can get away with everything from murdering the Baloch to the recent killings of five, reportedly, unarmed Chechens including a pregnant woman. The military too has been accused of killing militants in Swat and other troubled areas. Once this accountability is established, it can be followed with financial accountability, but human rights have to have top priority so that people do not live in fear and awe of state institutions.
To bring about the sought summer of democracy, human rights abuses will have to be addressed urgently, relentlessly and forcefully. Without human rights being fully respected, there can be absolutely no empowerment of the people and, unless the people are empowered, the "˜establishment' cannot be disempowered and this situation will persist indefinitely.
Inside Iran's Most Secretive Region
Sistan and Balochistan has been described as akin to Mars on Earth. For all the attention they get from Tehran, many Baloch feel they may as well be on another planet.
Pakistan would work better in pieces
In dealing with a Pakistan that has careened from one unstable government to another, most of them dictatorial and with no genuine national interest, the West has had no effective basis for diplomacy apart from bribes, aimed at securing short-term goals, in the form of foreign aid and military hardware. Once Pakistan is broken up into entities with true and distinct national interests, grievances that give rise to strife and terrorism would abate and the problems the West now faces in Pakistan would become more manageable.
The Double Game
It's the end of the Second World War, and the United States is deciding what to do about two immense, poor, densely populated countries in Asia. America chooses one of the countries, becoming its benefactor. Over the decades, it pours billions of dollars into that country's economy, training and equipping its military and its intelligence services. The stated goal is to create a reliable ally with strong institutions and a modern, vigorous democracy. The other country, meanwhile, is spurned because it forges alliances with America's enemies.
Should Pakistan be broken up?
Pakistan today is held together by a powerful military which directly consumes 70% of the its budget after debt payments. The military has gained strength by opportunistically aligning itself with the United States, China and Saudi Arabia. It has directly ruled the country for most of its history and has cultivated relations with the fundamentalist Islamist clergy to strengthen its hold on power. In fact, the military is a bastion of Islamists who are influenced by fundamentalist movements such as Wahabism and Deobandism -- the same movements which hold sway among large numbers of Pakistani Punjabis.
The Baloch Hal editorial: The Man Who Betrayed Balochistan
Similar to all other cases of enforced disappearance, the government authorities never provided an explanation about what the charges, if there were any, against these people. They were never produced before a court of law or given the right to defend themselves on the line of Article 11 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The last rites administered? Not yet!
The jubilations, the triumphalism and the joy expressed by the US leaders and public was crass and vulgar. Yes, some had lost their loved ones but then what about nearly a million killed in Iraq and Afghanistan since the invasions by western alliances?
Baloch from Afghanistan: between insurgency and famine
The Afghan Baloch are another people that make up the colourful ethnic mosaic of the country. And like the Pashtuns, Tajiks and Uzbeks, the Baloch have also seen their land divided by arbitrary boundaries in Central Asia.
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